The first official debate within a major party took place at 5PM EDT on August 6, hosted and broadcast by the Fox News Channel, and moderated by Bill Hemmer and Martha MacCallum.

It featured the seven mainstream Republican candidates (because there are many more not even mentioned by the media) who did not finish in the top-10 in an average of national polls; those top 10 were slated for a “prime time” debate on Fox at 9PM EDT.

The “bottom 7” are, in alphabetical order: Former Hewlitt Packard CEO Carly Fiorina, Former Virginia Governor Jim Gilmore, U.S. Senator from South Carolina Lindsey Graham, Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal, Former New York Governor George Pataki, Texas Governor Rick Perry, and Former U.S. Senator from Pennsylvania Rick Santorum,

There were no major gaffes or triumphs, though post-debate analyst (and prime-time debate moderator) Chris Wallace thought Fiorina stood head and shoulders ahead of the pack, and Charles Krauthammer said she “won it going away.” George Will agreed, though praised all of the candidates in general, calling them all intelligent and well-qualified.

ANOTHER GREECE

Greece is often the topic of negative comparisons by American politicians, and this debate was no exception. It was bound to happen, and in his closing statements, it was Lindsey Graham who said: “we’re going to become another Greece unless we work together.”